Five on Friday – 01.22.21

This week flew by for me! I was off Monday and Tuesday so it was already a short week but then yesterday I took half a day off so Carly Jo could secure her learners permit! Happy to say that is officially in her possession and now the real fun begins! I’m sharing a little Five on Friday with a few favorites from my week.

SHE podcast

Podcast and audio books are my favorites on drives so I packed in a few good ones on my visit to see my mom. Episode 141 is an interview with Lysa TerKeurst over her new book Forgiving What You Can’t Forget. It’s so good! I can’t wait to read the book now. My biggest takeaway? You can’t fully learn to forgive others until you are able to fully receive God’s forgiveness yourself. I feel that! Jordan has lots of great interviews with others on a wide variety of topics and she is pleasant to listen to.

Amanda Gorman

Definitely a highlight of the week was hearing Amanda Gorman read her beautiful poem, “The Hill We Climb”. Can we also just talk about how darling she is? And to show up as such a bright light in that adorable yellow coat…I was inspired!

“When day comes, we step out of the shade aflame and unafraid. The new dawn blooms as we free it. For there is always light.

If only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.” – Amanda Gorman

Home Decor #kirklands #home

I’ve been working on this space in our home for quite a bit but I think I’ve finally rearranged and figured out what works best. What is meant to be a formal dining room was just not functional for us so we have used it over the years as a playroom, craft space, second tv room, you name it. The thing I hated most is this is the first visible room upon entering our home and it often looked a mess. Since the TV was really not utilized much I ditched it and replaced the cheap cube storage unit with this new console table. I absolutely love it! It is just the right size as I needed something narrow but long enough.

If you didn’t know, I was once a Southern Living consultant and have so many pieces I always loved but had not found just the right spot for. I’ve held on to them and am committed to either find a place or get them out of my house….no more boxes of random decor stuck in the corner in 2021! The tiered basket is one of those and I think I’ve found the perfect spot for it. Treasuring what I have in my home is big on my list in 2021 to help embrace my word of the year.

My gallery wall has also been “almost” complete for like a year but needed just a couple of pieces to fill in and we found the cute little butterfly print and the wicker oval piece at Hobby Lobby. I’m so happy with how it turned out!

Ninja Air Fryer

My interest is peaked in the air fryer craze but deciding on which one to buy has taken me months! I first grabbed the Instant Pot Duo Crisp when it was on sale before Christmas because I figured I might be able to use a second instant pot. I never even opened the box because I decided that was dumb. Cassy has a great review if you don’t yet have an instant pot and think the duo might be for you. After seeing Target had the Ninja air fryer on sale this week, I did some research and decided it was worth a try. I picked it up yesterday and can’t wait to try out some recipes this weekend so if you have any suggestions shoot them my way!!

Target still has quite a few kitchen appliances on sale this week including other air fryers. I also grabbed this egg bite maker after seeing my friend Andrea rave about it.

Clean Swap Stop #cleanliving

Are you interested in creating a cleaner environment at home? Some friends of mine are hosting a little Clean Swap Stop on Instagram this week with lots of information on how and why you might want to swap things in your home and get rid of the toxins in 2021. You can follow the Clean Swap Stop on Instagram to learn more and tell them I sent you because it is a private account and they are wanting to keep the followers “real”. We recently made the switch to glass containers instead of plastic for our tupperware and I have been so happy. I never really thought much about the toxic part but was always annoyed they would get stained. No longer a problem!

I’m working on swapping out our cookware next and started by having Santa bring me the Always Pan for Christmas. It has not left the stovetop! It’s an investment but this one pan has replaced the need to pull any of the others out for most of my cooking.

That’s all I’ve got! Hope you all have a super weekend.